Desperate Housewives star James Denton has shared the reasons behind his family’s decision to leave Los Angeles
The 63-year-old actor, best known for playing Mike Delfino in the hit TV series, sold his Glendale property for $2.8m ($US2 million) in 2018 to relocate to the Midwest.
During a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Denton said Hollywood is “not a great place to raise kids” and wanted to raise his children away from the image-conscious environment of Tinseltown.
“I see my friends’ kids who are growing up in Los Angeles and I can watch the social media impact and the desire to keep up with the other people,” Denton said.
“Whether it’s the plastic surgery or the nails or the hair or all that. It’s really interesting to me and something my daughter didn’t really go through in the Midwest to that degree.”
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James Denton best known for playing Mike Delfino in the hit TV series Desperate Housewives.
Denton opted to move after Desperate Housewives concluded its eight-season run. He and his wife, Erin O’Brien, decided to relocate to Chanhassen, Minnesota, the suburb where his wife grew up.
Their son Sheppard, now 23, and daughter Malin, now 21, were aged 10 and eight at the time of the move.
“Their mum and I were like, ‘Look, all of her family was up in Minnesota, great place to raise kids, in the Midwest, great public schools, let’s get them out of LA. Let them grow up somewhere a little more healthy and then I’ll figure it out,’” Denton said.
“L.A. is a tougher place because of, I think just that whole, the emphasis on image, which really is hard to escape in L.A.”
Denton and his wife chose to move out of Los Angeles when he wrapped up the final season of Desperate Housewives. Picture: Matt Petit/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
Following the relocation, Denton secured a role on the Good Witch, which filmed in Toronto, allowing him to commute home to Minnesota on weekends.
While Denton has since returned to Los Angeles, he remains pleased with the timing of the family’s move during his children’s youth.
“Some parents handle it great and do a wonderful job. But I thought it was easier just to get out of it,” he said.
“Having them around their cousins and grandparents, for me, it was a better place for them to grow up.”
Parts of this story first appeared in Fox News and was republished with permission.
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